on the role of printed media on choice of tourist destinations pranav … · 2017-04-09 · table...

European Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research

Vol.5, No.1, pp.14-23, April 2017

Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org)

14 ISSN 2054 - 6424(Print), ISSN 2054 - 6432(Online)

ON THE ROLE OF PRINTED MEDIA ON CHOICE OF TOURIST DESTINATIONS

Pranav S. Misal

Bentley University

Waltham, MA.

U.S.A

Ian R. Cross

Bentley University

Waltham, MA.

U.S.A

Paul D. Berger

Bentley University

Waltham, MA.

U.S.A

ABSTRACT: This paper examines the role of brochures and allied printed materials for tourists,

in terms of determining their chosen destinations and also, deciding upon activities to engage in

at these destination sites. Data was collected during 2016; we examined 1,560 responses of

hospitality professionals at multiple locations in the United States, Canada, France, Germany,

Ireland and Greece. The key finding is that the role of brochures and printed material still play a

significant role in tourists’ choices, and has not been adequately replaced by the Internet, kiosks,

or other “more modern” marketing/promotional channels.

KEYWORDS: Travel, Tourism, Brochures, Visitor information sources

INTRODUCTION

The travel and tourism industry is one of the biggest and fastest growing industries. It is a complex

industry made up of many different businesses, the common theme being that they provide

products and services to tourists. Tourist information has been shown to have an important

influence on the choice of vacation destinations. With internet and new technologies upgrading, it

has greatly impacted the way tourists use information sources for tourism activities. The

effectiveness of print media, such as guides and brochures, posters, and pamphlets has been

questioned. However, we still note that money and other resources are invested in setting up

billboards, banners, and posters. Research has demonstrated that this mode of information is a

valuable concept in understanding the destination-choice process.

Tourist brochures are a form of print media advertising (Hiippalla 2013), they are part of the pre-

travel materials intended to inform, convince, lure and eventually sell tourist packages. Potential

tourists usually have limited knowledge about a new destination which has not been previously

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Vol.5, No.1, pp.14-23, April 2017



visited. They try to obtain information not only from the media or their social groups, but they also

access print media, photos, videos, and maps concerning potential tourist destinations. These are

critical elements in the destination-choice process (Um and Crompton, 1999). Tourists’ behavioral

intention has been viewed as an important research topic both in academia and the tourism

industry. In contemporary marketing activities, tourists’ behavioral intention has become a crucial

part in the determination of tourist destination (Wang, Lu, & Xia, 2012).

An increasing number of public relations practitioners and government organizations are using

various methods (e.g., e-mails, websites, multimedia, RSS feeds, social media, etc.) to better

communicate with journalists so they can enhance their media relations with tourists. More

corporate/governmental organizational websites tend to provide online pressrooms that provide

journalists with access to essential organization information and media materials such as press

releases, fact sheets, backgrounders, newsletters, brochures, photographs and audio/video clips,

and many downloadable materials (Yoo & Kim, 2013).

In this paper, we discuss and analyze a recent survey concerning this issue. The aim is to

demonstrate the usefulness of brochures in hotels and local destinations so as to reveal a

relationship among these three influences upon tourists’ needs for information. For instance, it is

believed that potential consumers compare brochures and, on that basis, decide on their preferred

destination.

LITERATURE REVIEW

The studies concerned with destination choice and factors influencing the decisions have focused

upon identifying the dominant attributes of images, brochures, and guides and exploring their role

in selection. Different desired experiences and satisfaction are relevant in formulating preferences

for recreational sites. Information sources and varying attributes of destinations form the basis for

different experience expectation, and level of satisfaction.

Print media, such as brochures, posters, and maps should correspond with effective promotional

objectives: convenience, destination choice, and satisfaction. The information about the

destination, which is required by tourists, is also an important means of promotion for the tourism

industry. The value of this information depends on its reaching consumers and satisfying their

interests and needs. The means of promotion (brochures, guides, and tourist offices among them)

are an active and open way of getting information to tourists. Since tourists use external

information sources as a first step when planning (Goossens 1994), entrepreneurs and promoters

need to know what to include in brochures and guides, to aid decision making and, at the same

time, to analyze the effect of information on tourists’ behavior. Sources of information about a

destination have a great influence on the decision making process for tourists, and their behavior

determines usage of search and information (Andereck and Caldwell 1993; Capella and Greco

1987; Snepenger, Meged, Snelling and Worrall 1990; Snepenger and Snepenger 1993). The

previous studies have found that the word-of-mouth (WOM) communication is the strongest

marketing channel (Koth and Norman, 2001; Lee et al., 2003; Stokes and Lomax, 2002). Such



Vol.5, No.1, pp.14-23, April 2017



communications exert a powerful influence on consumer's purchase behavior including tourist

sites, products and hospitality service (Murray, 2000).

METHODOLOGY

For data collection, by means of a structured questionnaire, we created a survey using Qualtrics.

The purpose of this survey was to understand the usage and effectiveness of hospitality visitor

information. Data was collected during 2016 for Center for Marketing Technology, Bentley

University and The International Association of Visitor Information Provider (IAVIP). In the

process, we examined 1,560 responses of hospitality professionals at multiple locations in the

United States, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland and Greece. The responses were logged into

Qualtrics, and were exported into a raw file (.csv). Raw data comes from the survey answers

provided by the front office staff within the hospitality industry. These are the opinions of the

professionals at the check-in and concierge desk that have the greatest potential to impact guest

satisfaction with their accommodation. All responses and data were analyzed using the statistical

software, SPSS. With application of multiple functions such as cross-tabulation, and descriptive

statistics, we analyzed the results and data.

ANALYSIS

Source of information

Table 1 displays the percent of respondents who viewed different channels as an important source

of information for visitors during a trip.

Table 1: Percent who found sources important DURING the trip

It can be seen in Table 1 that 53% of respondents believe that an important source of information

for a visitor during their trip is a brochure from a display stand. This value exceeds any other

individual value in the table. It leads over websites (46.54%) and all other channels. Although not

46.54%41.91%

53%

45.27%

29.38%

9.02% 11.06% 12.10%

18.04%

8.75%

14.29%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%



Vol.5, No.1, pp.14-23, April 2017



present in Table 1, if we add the percent of tourists who view the channel as “somewhat important,”

the number for brochures jumps dramatically (74%) and still outpaces websites (70%). Although

the total number of visitors actually picking up a brochure at their destination was (64%), if we

include visitors from far outside the area, it increases to (84%).

Source used to plan a trip

In advance of taking the trip, indeed, for the specific task of planning the trip, Table 2 reports

which channels were view as important.

Table 2: Important sources in PLANNING the trip

From Table 2, we can see that the Internet is considered an important source of information for

tourists planning a trip, (53.17%), the highest value for any of the listed channels, followed by

personal recommendations from family and friends (48.64%). The web and mobile apps are

gaining ground. Traditional media, such as television, newspaper and radio lag far behind most

other marketing channels that influence trip planning. However, travel guides, maps and brochures

from display stands are still influential in trip planning – i.e., before a tourist arrives at their

destination (31.33% for brochures). Traditional media has continued to decline in importance -

television (11.87%), newspapers (7.77%), and billboards (6.15%).

53.17%

48.64%

31.33%29.44%

13.52%

7.77%

11.87%

6.15%

16.41%

5.67%

19.69%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%



Vol.5, No.1, pp.14-23, April 2017



Effect of Brochures During a Trip

Table 3: brochures uses during a trip

Table 3 indicates the uses for brochures during a trip. We can note that 6 out of 10 visitors (60%)

used a brochure to aid in planning out a visit to attractions or a business, and a large number of

visitors (62%) were informed about an attraction or service as a result of reading a brochure.

Brochures are not only effective in shaping the plans of leisure visitors, but also play a significant

role in affecting the plans of visitors. Area vendors and business owners also benefit from brochure

distribution in tourist areas with visitors (52%) planning to purchase something as a result of

reading about the product or service in a brochure.

Use of Brochures from display racks

The data collected leads one to believe that tourists enjoy reading brochures about local attractions,

as well as about products and services. While not cataloged directly on Table 3, data revealed that

a relatively large number of surveyed visitors who picked up a brochure from a display rack during

their trip believe that brochures are a valuable local information source (62% of them). Individual

data results indicate that, more importantly, they expect to discover new attractions from easy-to-

use brochure display racks. Many visitors (65%) believe that display-rack brochures are a valuable

visitor information source. Visitors appreciate the convenience of brochures located in display

stands in popular locations to learn about retail opportunities and attractions. They like hard copy

in an easy to use/easy to read format they can carry away with them (42%). Nearly half the visitors

use display-rack brochures to find timely information about current exhibitions and events as well

as special deals and time sensitive offers (47%). Other uses for brochures include scrapbooking

and free maps to guide them in their visits.

25%

50% 52% 54% 60% 62%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Wouldextend their

visit

Plan to usea discount

couponoffered on a

brochure

Plan topurchase

something

Would altertheir plans

Plan to visitan

attractionor business

Becomeaware of aservice orattraction



Vol.5, No.1, pp.14-23, April 2017



Importance of Brochure

Table 4: Overall importance of (print) brochures

Table 4 reveals the overall importance of brochures surveyed as a stand-alone category. Over 1200

hundred of the 1560 respondents indicated that brochures were “Extremely Important” on the 1-5

scale depicted in Table 4. Overall, as can be seen, 81% indicated this category. If we look at the

“top two boxes,” in this case the 4’s and 5’s, we arrive at a value of 94% of the 1509 respondents

who answered this question. This is very telling, for evaluations of “success” or “importance” of

an attribute or product is often measured not just by its “average” rating (4.72 in this case), but

also by its top-two-box percent. As we noted earlier, print media is often more highly valued by

guests than electronic and kiosk information. Printed brochures, maps and guides placed in the

lobby are much more likely to be used by guests during their stay. If the favorability of in-room

printed materials is also considered, then printed materials outperform hotel electronic kiosks and

information by a large margin. This is also true of hospitality professionals who have expressed

the view that printed materials are not of value to their guests. The survey shows that hospitality

professionals overwhelmingly favor the use of printed media to assist guests in their properties.

Of the hotels surveyed, 94% provided visitor information for their guest by way of a printed

brochure display.

Importance of visitor information at the location

Table 5 considers the specific use of visitor information on site, separately for those who do have

a brochure display on site and those who do not have a brochure display on site.



Vol.5, No.1, pp.14-23, April 2017



Table 5: Importance of providing visitor information on site – those with and without an onsite

brochure display

Table 5 shows that (83%) of respondents who have a brochure display (the blue columns in the

histogram illustrated in Table 5) consider providing visitor information extremely important.

(37%) of respondents who do not have brochure display (the red columns in the histogram

illustrated in Table 5) consider providing visitor information to be extremely important. Of course,

it makes sense that those with a brochure display view having such a display as more important as

those who do not have such a display.

Hospitality professionals reported observing that, if a property has a brochure display in the lobby,

guests are (visibly) carrying and using brochures (83%) of time, but guests are (visibly) carrying

and using only (53%) of time in hotels not having a brochure display in the lobby. This data points

to the value of a brochure display at a central point where guests tend to either pass by often, if not

congregate.

Services used by visitors



Vol.5, No.1, pp.14-23, April 2017



Figure 1: Uses of visitor information services

Figure 1 shows a pi-chart of the most frequent use of visitor information services (values adding

to 100%.) Brochures of attractions and events are the most popular (27%), while printed maps are

the second most popular choice for guests and concierge staff. Maps are easy to use, easy to share

and easy to trace a route along (26%); place-based guides came in third (22%).



Vol.5, No.1, pp.14-23, April 2017



Sources of information other than brochures

Table 6: Information used at the time of traveling

In the age of mobile phones guests still look to the front desk for printed maps, restaurant and

attractions (261[55%] of the 551 responses in Table 6) rather than kiosks (60 [11%] of the 551

responses in Table 6). The use of the Internet and kiosks at properties is much lower than

hypothesized, which suggests that guests look to their own mobile Internet devices to conduct their

own place-based research. However, this data suggests the importance of well-placed printed

materials in displays to catch the attention of the guest and assist the front desk staff in their advice

to guests on where to go and what to do while visiting.

CONCLUSION

From our data, we can reach several conclusions -

• Hotel front desk staff in the US and Europe overwhelmingly favor brochure displays in

their properties.

• Brochures play a much larger role in travel decisions tha conventional wisdom might

suggest.

• Hotel front desk staff overwhelmingly prefer to assist their guest with printed media

• Brochures and maps are almost equally popular to share with guests

• The use of printed maps is interesting in the age of mobile Google maps and

suggests there is a shared connection with the concierge and the guest using a printed map together

to highlight locations

• Even hotels without displays still prefer to help guests with printed media

• Kiosks and web-based information sources are seldom preferred by hotel front staff to

assist their guests.

176

60

125

60

50

80

0 50 100 150 200

MAP

RESTAURANT

ATTRACTIONS

KIOSKS

EVENTS

INFORMATION

Combined Maps and

Attractions 55%



Vol.5, No.1, pp.14-23, April 2017



In the digital age printed media is the most preferred and a highly valuable support to the local

knowledge of the front desk and concierge.

REFERENCES

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Arturo Molina and A´gueda Esteban (2006), Tourism Brochures: Usefulness and Image, Annals

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Capella, L., and A. Greco (1987), Information Sources of Elderly for Vacation Decisions, Annals

of Tourism Research, 14, 148–151.

Goossens, C. 1994 External Information Search: Effects of Tour Brochures with Experimental

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Hiippala, T. (2013), Modelling the structure of a multimodal artifact, PhD thesis, Department of

Modern Languages, University of Helsinki.

Koth, B., and Norman, W. (2001), The Minnesota bed and breakfast market: A guest profile.

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Stokes, D., and Lomax, W. (2002), Taking control of word of mouth marketing: the case of an

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